Some nice people in Iceland sent me a promotional DVD which included a recipe for whale meatballs, soaked in milk. Since whale is just so damned hard to get, let me tell you about lamb meatballs, drenched in a yogurt and tomato sauce.
Back in India, these mutton delights are called koftas. Highly spiced and a bit of a mission to cook, the outcome of your kofta-related kitchen labours will delight your friends, who will marvel at your ability to give new life, enhanced vigour and outstanding flavour to what, on the surface, is just another meatball.
To make kofta and rice for four diners, you will need: • 500g minced lamb or mutton • 1 teaspoon freshly ground jeera (cumin seeds) • 1 teaspoon freshly ground dhania (coriander seeds) • ¼ teaspoon ground dried red chillies • ¼ teaspoon garum masala • 3 tablespoons dhania leaves • 3 tablespoons plain yogurt • ¼ teaspoon salt And the sauce … • 5 tablespoons plain yogurt • 1 large tomato • 1 large onion • 5 cardamom pods • 50mm stick of cinnamon • 4 cloves • 1 teaspoon freshly ground dhania (coriander seeds) • 1 teaspoon freshly ground jeera • 50mm fresh root ginger • 5 garlic cloves • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric • ¼ teaspoon ground dried red chillies
Phew! So many ingredients!
Like I said, koftas are a mission, but like all noble and self-sacrificing labour, well rewarded in the final analysis.
Begin by pouring all the ingredients for the meatballs into a large mixing bowl. Break up the mass of minced mutton or lamb by hand and add this to the contents of the mixing bowl.
Using your hands, mix everything together until the various components are evenly distributed throughout the mass.
Break the final mix into golf ball-sized meatballs and reserve in a covered bowl.
Now for the bits and pieces that make up the highly flavoured sauce. Peel and finely chop the onion and tomato.
Peel the garlic and skin the fresh root ginger. Mince these finely and then combine them in a bowl with 50ml water, the ground jeera, ground dhania, turmeric and dried red chillies. Mix well.
Heat a little sunflower or canola oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan, then sauté the onions with the whole cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamoms for a few minutes until the onions are soft.
Taking great care not to get splashed by hot oil, pour in the contents of the sauce mixing bowl. Stir these well into the frying pan mixture, then add the chopped tomato, stirring once more.
Let this cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid adhesions and consequent burning.
Very slowly add the yogurt, a little at a time. Between each yogurt addition, stir well to allow the flavours to integrate and the sauce to emulsify. At this point add 250ml of water and allow the contents of the frying pan to simmer.
Now for the meatballs. Add these to the fragrant sauce in the frying pan, lower the heat and let them cook for 30 minutes. Move them around with a spatula so they don’t stick to the pan and to ensure that they brown all over.
While this last phase is going on, prepare some white rice. Serve the koftas on the rice, spoon over a little of the sauce remaining in the frying pan and serve with a fresh dhania leaf garnish and a little mango atchar on the side. After this marathon cooking and dining experience, meatballs will never seem the same again – David Basckin |fw
